So during Comic Con we got to see a concept image of Kotobukiya's interpretation of Liara T'Soni. Earlier today the first, unpainted, version of the figurine was showed by Bioware on their Facebook page. Personally I think her face is a bit too much baby face (though since it isn't painted, I'm not really one to judge) and her chest is slightly too... much. But on a whole, I think it's a pretty nice impression of her.

Yeah, as you've said in the post, the face and boobs are a bit much but that's kinda how these statues work I guess. I really would like to see how they take on Commander Shepard though, I just can't imagine him with anime eyes. Unless they're doing FemShep, which will probably just be a white-skinned version of this statue, unfortunately.

@WinterSnowblind: That statue I do kind of like, actually. Maybe because it doesn't seem as ridiculous being that comic book characters are so ridiculously stylized anyways.

All in all, however, I'm just not the kinda person that can justify the kind of money these statues cost just to have them sitting on a shelf or desktop. I'd rather have a more realistic revision of Liara as a framed poster or something. Well...no that'd be weird too I guess. A cast of characters perhaps?

Yeah, definitely looks like it will fit with the rest of their the Bishoujo line, which has been mostly comic ladies up to this point but I guess it is expanding with a female Ghostbuster and now Liara.

Seems like whoever modeled this thought, Hey I like Liara from Mass Effect.. but I also loooove anime!

That's the idea behind the whole line.

(these things are primarily sold in Japan)

This is correct; a lot of people on the images seem outraged at this upcoming statue, echoing a sentiment akin to "WTF SO ANIME! THIS NOT MY LIARA!"

However, what these fans don't seem to be aware of is that Kotobukiya's entire Bishoujo line is meant to provide "pretty anime girl" interpretations of popular characters. They've already released quite a few statues based on Marvel and DC heroines/villainesses like the above Poison Ivy and the below Jean Grey, and they're beginning to get into the video game realm with Liara and Tekken's Christie Monteiro. While I think that some of these have been a little overboard with the... *ahem* assets, if you will, I think that a lot of the statues Kotobukiya has in their Bishoujo line are pretty neat.

I was going to post a picture of the statue of Christie from Tekken, but I figured she was wearing a bit too little to be positively safe, and I didn't want to get in trouble for posting something inappropriate on here. You can go search for pictures if you really want to.

Regarding the Commander Shepard statue mentioned in the concept art card, it can be safe to assume that Commander Shepard will not look like a "pretty anime lady" (though I am also assuming that they're going to be making a statue of male Shepard, and that's another matter entirely). Regardless of Shepard's gender in the statue, though, his/her statue will be part of Kotobukiya's ArtFX line and will thus most likely be a very accurate representation of the default Shepard.

For example, this is what the ArtFX Iron Man Mk.IV statue looks like, and it doesn't look anime'd up at all. So I don't think we need to worry about that Shepard statue. Unless, of course, your Shepard isn't the default male Shepard. But in that case, you should probably be used to that by now.

As part of an anime-transformation line of Western characters, this is actually pretty good to me personally. If Bioware came out and said 'this is the new Liara' then I would be a bit disappointed, but thankfully that is not the case.

As part of an anime-transformation line of Western characters, this is actually pretty good to me personally. If Bioware came out and said 'this is the new Liara' then I would be a bit disappointed, but thankfully that is not the case.

Yeah I'm with you there. Sure I have some opinions about details with the prototype, but it looks fine as an anime style interpretation.

I like it, but I recognize that some people will hate it. Anyone who complains that it should be changed shouldn't bother, Bioware knew what they were getting into when they agreed to have Koto design a figure.

The battle-armor/trenchcoat thing is kind of cool but there's too much emphasis on the breasts and that's sure as hell not Liara's face. It wouldn't be a problem if Liara was a highly sexualised character to begin with but she wasn't. Damn merchandising.

I still hate any Liara that isn't ME1 Liara. Softspoken goody two shows goes and becomes an information launderer? WTF?

I'm happy for the people this is for, but think this is totally stupid. Anime face, fine. But the tits? Really? It's hard not to be racist against what is apparently an entire continent of sexist little boys. It's like fucking Dragon Age 2 took a shit on her chest. I don't think I've seen such round, massive tits anywhere else but DA2, besides this statue. And that one red head lady that was in Firefly.

@PhatSeeJay: Hm looks good to me, I'm most likely buying it. I'd rather have a normal style Liara but I still like it. Where'd you get the updated pics from? Can't find anything on Liara on the company's site.

What really bugs me about this is her expression and stance, not the anime stylization. Liara isn't a shoulders-up, smilin' with ass-n-tits out kind of character. That's Miranda. Liara is quiet, thoughtful and has all kinds of worries and problems. She'll even bone you if you offer her ridiculously false assurances in Shadow Broker. That little bit was a triumph of good characterization, even though I was sour 'cause I struck out.

If they'd bothered to capture her personality a bit and not turned her into a generic coquettish anime babe, people would be cooler about it.

At least they showed the character some respect. I'm actually surprised she's not wearing ass-less chaps or something. They took my favorite character and basically made the back of her skirt flying up to conveniently reveal a bare ass and panties. Oh Japan.